Friday, June 22, 2007

Angela Bassett Set To Star In Upcoming Tyler Perry Film

Oscar-nominated actress Angela Bassett is set to star in the upcoming film, "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns". The film is an adaptation of Perry's stage play "Meet the Browns." Bassett will play Brenda, a single mother living in inner-city Chicago who takes her family to Georgia for the funeral of her father, whom she never met. There, she meets the Browns, the fun-loving, crass relatives from her father's side of the family. Perry will portray Madea and Uncle Joe in the film. The movie is due to be released early next year. I think that Bassett's presence should lend some class to the project. To paraphrase J.J. Hunsecker, "We shall see what we shall see".

Although Bassett has worked steadily since her Oscar-nominated role as the lady from Nutbush, TN in "What's Love Got To Do With It?", her career hasn't reached the heights that I felt it should. When I saw her in "Vampire In Brooklyn", I wondered why an acclaimed actress such as Angela would sign on for such crap. When you're a Black actress and your name isn't Halle Berry, I guess you can't be too choosy about the roles you take. Please don't hold "Vampire In Brooklyn" against me... I was employed by Blockbuster at the time and got 5 free rentals a week. I beat myself up for a good while after that for wasting a free rental on that mess!

Whose on your list of performers (of any race or gender) who you feel haven't received the roles they deserve?

5 comments:

Taj said...

Most actors today seem to be lacking..talent takes a back seat to who looks better and whatever their scandal is at the moment.

I was actually disappointed in Angela Bassets role in The Score. She seemed to me to be merely a prop for DeNiro. I love DeNiro but also could have done with more Angela.

And I hated Vampire In Brooklyn!

Anonymous said...

I am such a fan of Angela Bassett. She has stated that she usually is very selective about the roles she chooses to portray and with the exception of "A Vampire in Brooklyn" and "Supernova", she has not really embarrassed herself much. For instance she turned down the role that won Halle the Oscar because she did not want to perform nude. She has also shunned playing prostitutes and drug addicts. Actually besides, "Meet the Browns", Ms. Bassett has several upcoming projects in the works. One such project has her portraying the wife of Toussaint L'Overture, the catalyst in the 18th century Haitian revolution.
Pjazzypar

Taj said...

Angela Basset will be playing Suzan Simone? Interesting! I read a book about Toussaint L'Overture several years ago and I'd be curious to see how it is portrayed on film.

Anonymous said...

Hey taj,

Since it is probably a big budget movie and not an independent film, the story will probably not stick to what really happened, but rather give the audience what they want. Kind of like "Lady Sings the Blues", much of that film was a fabrication of Billie Holiday's life. Let's hope the producers do a better job of getting this story right.
pjazzypar

Taj said...

I was fairly young when I saw Lady Sings the Blues and it wasn't until I was older and read a biography on her that I realized the discrepancies in the movie.

It would be a shame for the L'Overture movie to be "dumbed down" for audiences as it is an interesting story to tell without creative tinkering.

 
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